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Saturday, July 21, 2012

Tilapia "Affogato"

In Tuscany, there is a dish called Trote Affogato or "Drowned Trout." The recipe calls for the sauteing of fresh trout with an herb mix and, as the fish cooks, white wine is carefully drizzled over the fish. As the wine evaporates, more is drizzled over the fish. Once the fish is cooked, you can plate the fish and use the juices in the dish as a sauce.

I have made the original Trote Affogato for my wife, my beatutiful Angel. However, over the years, I have tried different versions of this dish. I have used different fish, different wine, and even different aromatics. They have not always been successful.

This is my most recent attempt to make this dish. Once again, I decided to use different ingredients that the Trote Affogato recipe. Different fish, aromatics and herbs. The one thing that this recipe shares in common with Trote Affogato is the use of the white wine, drizzling it slowly and carefully so that the fish is basically poached in the wine. In so doing, I sought to achieve the true meaning of "Trote Affogato" ..."poached trout."

PESCE AFFOGATO

Recipe adapted from Regional Italian Cuisine at p.144

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 fillets of fish (such as trout or tilapia)

1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, chopped

1 bunch of scallions, white part thinly sliced

2 cloves of garlic, diced

1/2 cup of white wine

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Ground pepper

Directions:

1. Saute the scallions and herbs. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the scallions and saute for two minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary and thyme. Saute for a couple minutes more.

2. Saute the fish. Add the fish fillets. Drizzle a few tablespoons of wine over the fish. Saute the fish until the wine evaporates before you add more. Repeat by drizzling a few more tablespoons of wine over the fish and allow it to cook until evaporated. Continue this process until the fish is cooked, which will depend upon the fish and the thickness of the fillet.

PAIRING THIS RECIPE

Given the use of white wine in this recipe, the obvious pairing for this dish is white wine. I used a Terre di Chieti Bianco from Perlage. This wine is made primarily from the Trebbiano grape, which is grown throughout Italy. There are also Trebbiano wines, such as Trebbiano d'Abruzzo, which will also work well with this dish.

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